A polygonal mesh may be a collection of vertices, edges, and faces that define the shape and/or boundary of an object. A vertex may be a position (e.g. a point or location). An edge may be a connection between two vertices (e.g. may be a line connecting two vertices). A face may be a closed set of edges. For example, a triangular face may be formed with a closed set of three edges.
Polygonal meshes are used in or applied in various areas. For example, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) processes may use polygonal meshes to define components or parts that are to be manufactured. In another example, polygonal meshes may be used in computer animation to create more lifelike movies or images. In a further example, game applications (e.g. video games, computer games) often use polygonal meshes to represent objects in a virtual environment. The meshes may be generated during game development and are rendered to form objects in virtual environments when the game is played by a user.
Polygonal meshes formed of triangles may be generated using triangulation. In general, computer-implemented triangulation includes constructing one or more triangular polygons to tessellate a region of 2D space. The triangles selected for triangulation are sometimes selected according to Delaunay criterion.